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WASTE MANAGEMENT PHOENIX OPENJanuary 31, 2014Bubba WatsonSCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA THE MODERATOR: Bubba Watson, 5‑under 66 in Round 2 today, Waste Management Phoenix Open, puts you at 12‑under today, right at the top of the leaderboard heading into the weekend.  With that said, just a few comments on the round and as you go into Round 3 tomorrow. BUBBA WATSON: It was good, a good round. Shooting under par, shooting in the 60s. Pretty solid round. 5‑under par, right there around the lead if not leading by the end of the day. So all in all it was a good day. I had two sloppy bogeys coming down the stretch, but I will take it. It's right where I want to be going into the weekend. THE MODERATOR: Questions? Q. Talk about how the conditions were different today and how much different they were. BUBBA WATSON: Well, any time you play in the morning, you know, it's a quick turnaround. By the time I got done with media and got something to eat, put my son to bed and do all that and get my stuff ready for today, it's late. So you're waking up early. Don't get the same preparation as you do with a late tee time. So the workout and everything is different. It's quicker. So, you know, it's one of those things. But the weather was good. It wasn't windy this morning. By the time we made the turn, about two holes into the turn, it picked up. You know, the people said it was coming. So it got a little bit tougher, you know, the last six holes or so, I guess. It's going to be a little bit tougher for the boys out there, but solid golf. You can still play. The into‑the‑wind holes are a little bit tougher, but there's a lot of downwind holes that will play a little bit easier for them. Q. Is this a golf course you should win on? BUBBA WATSON: I feel like I should win on every golf course (smiling). The golf courses don't feel like I should. But, no, I think that once you make the PGA TOUR your game travels pretty well. I think every golf course you have a chance to win on. So just everything is clicking right now. I played really well last week, just didn't make the putts. This time I'm playing well and some of the putts are dropping. It really doesn't matter if it's this golf course or next week. Q. Does it feel like a home course? BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, you try and make it feel that way so the crowd gets behind you. I have a house here in Scottsdale, so I have always played well here, always liked coming here. I like the crowds. The crowds get behind the tournament, support the tournament. It's a fun event. Q. Can you see the contrast between this being sort of golf's biggest party out there and people out there having fun and doing who knows what, but you do all these charitable contributions during the week? Sort of the contrast between the two. BUBBA WATSON: No, I think if you really look deep into it and not worry about what people are doing, the money that is being raised for charity at this event equals out the same thing I'm doing. I think this is one that's giving away a pretty good lump sum of money for charity. This whole town, Phoenix and Scottsdale, they're big on supporting many events, many sporting events. So I think it's just another one. Who doesn't want to come in this great weather? A lot of snowbirds want to come down and hang, except today. Today is the worst day I have ever seen in like eight years. Q. I know you had some contest winners out there. I don't know what the story was with them. Can you go through that? BUBBA WATSON: I haven't met them yet, but I did some contest on Twitter, and I said I was going to bring out one family if they can do a video. It was six months ago, seven months ago, the contest? Guessing. THE MODERATOR: Like a Bubba's Biggest Fan video? BUBBA WATSON: Yeah. And there was two that really caught my eye. I said, You know what? Let's just bring out two. Brought out two families, two kids, their family and the two boys, you know, and their whole family, brought them out, so going to meet them right after this. Just change it up a little bit. Have some fun. Then right after I meet them I'm going to over to a mission, and me and my team and some of my friends are going to go for two hours and make ‑‑ they call them Snack Packs for kids that don't have food on weekends after they leave school, so I'm going to do that for two hours right after I meet these two families. Q. Was there one shot today you can say you were most pleased with? BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, I tapped in on the last hole and I was done. (Smiling.) If I sat here I could probably find one. First tee shot 8:00 in the morning, 8:06 in the morning, back is not as loose as you want it to be, weather is not as warm as you want it to be. But I hit a good tee shot, and then I hit my wedge in there close and I made the putt. I made the putt on No. 10, my first hole of the day. That got me going and confident with everything I did. Q. Did you hear any good original comments on 16 today? Anything stand out? BUBBA WATSON: No, they were really quiet today (smiling). No, it just kind of all blurs together, one big noise. So I didn't really hear one that stood out to me. Q. What did you toss up there this time? BUBBA WATSON: Visors, same visor that I'm wearing. I signed them all. I just toss them up. Q. For a guy who is tied for the lead right now, you don't look happy. Are you pleased with where you are right now? BUBBA WATSON: I'm always pleased. I'm getting to talk to you (laughter). No, I'm just tired. Two days of golf, windy conditions. Like I said, you know, we have done some stuff on Monday, did some stuff with the hospital on Monday. It was a long day yesterday. I don't know if you know, but the PGA TOUR plays slow. I don't know if anybody has heard that before (laughter). So it was five‑plus hours yesterday, and I don't know the time yet because I don't know how to read this watch. Just kidding. I love this watch. (Laughter.) No, so today was probably five hours, felt like five hours, so the quick turnaround, just tired. You know, very happy where I am. Who would not be happy? There's a lot of guys going home who wish they were right there. I'm very happy with that. Just tired. Q. They were saying about an hour ago they were about 20 minutes behind on the first tee already. Going to be a long afternoon, you think, for the guys playing in the second groups? BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, it's the PGA TOUR. Best way to say it. Q. But also with the wind? BUBBA WATSON: At 8:06 I think we were five minutes behind when we teed off, we were the third, fourth group. Why are we five minutes behind already? It's the one rule it's hard to fix. We have been trying to fix it for 40 years, so we have to figure out a way to speed it up. Fans don't want to be out there for five ‑‑well, the ones here like to be out here. Who doesn't like booing for five hours on one hole, you know (laughter)? Q. What do you think the answer is to fixing that? BUBBA WATSON: I have a lot of suggestions, but you have to penalize people. Fining them after 10 bad times is not going to scare anybody, but if you give them a stroke, a stroke affects that day, your momentum that day, your mindset for the whole week. It could cause you to win or lose because your momentum changes, hurts your retirement, hurts the FedEx Cup points, hurts everything. So it affects you in many different ways and not just, you know, a check after ten bad times. I think the strokes is the only way to do it. I think it will scare people more than it will ‑‑ give out shots. So it will make people speed up. But the main thing is there are so many people in the field. With that many people in the field, if two people look for a ball for five minutes, it slows the pace of play down. But everybody is legal. It just changes everything. So I think just so many people in the field each week, it's hard to‑‑ unless you're cutting back fields, and nobody wants to cut back fields. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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